Time to form a plan

Wednesday

Mar 27, 2013 at 9:52 AMMar 27, 2013 at 12:43 PM

Oregon State University (OSU) Extension Agent John Williams and Wallowa County, Ore. rancher Todd Nash told an audience of nearly 100 people at the Greenhorn Grange on March 22 that it's time for Siskiyou County cattlemen to prepare for the impacts of wolves.

John Bowman

Oregon State University (OSU) Extension Agent John Williams and Wallowa County, Ore. rancher Todd Nash told an audience of nearly 100 people at the Greenhorn Grange on March 22 that it's time for Siskiyou County cattlemen to prepare for the impacts of wolves.

Both Williams and Nash said they have first-hand experience with the possible impacts of wolves on livestock operations. Williams gave a detailed overview of a research project he is conducting through OSU, and Nash grazes cattle on tens of thousands of acres within the territory of Oregon's Imnaha wolf pack – one of two Oregon wolf packs that have engaged in confirmed attacks on livestock. Williams noted that, of six wolf packs in the state, only the Imnaha pack has engaged in confirmed attacks on cattle, while one other pack has engaged in a small number of confirmed attacks on sheep.

Williams, whose project was able to fit one wolf with a tracking collar, followed the movements of that wolf (and presumably its pack) within and around livestock operations in Wallowa County while simultaneously tracking the movements of open-range and fenced cattle herds. He said, "Collaring wolves is very difficult – not because of the wolves, but because of the politics."

Williams told the audience that, in his experience, wolves are extremely intelligent and he has great respect for them, adding "If they weren't eating livestock, they're magnificent animals."

However, he said their intelligence and adaptability make them especially hard to manage and often renders non-lethal management techniques only marginally successful in cases where a pack has learned to prey on livestock – explaining that once a pack gets habituated to a deterrent technique, they often begin to disregard it.

He described a list of non-lethal techniques such as fladry fencing, increased human presence, cleaning up bone piles, rag boxes (solar-powered devices that sound alarms and lights when collared wolves are close), range riders and changes in livestock turn-out times. All of which, he said, can help decrease the risk of attacks on livestock.

Williams explained that his research project is limited in scope and the resultant data is preliminary, but so far, some patterns are becoming clear. For instance, tracking data for the one collared wolf compared to tracking data for a herd of open-range cattle showed clear signs that the presence of wolves does influence grazing patterns. Also, the collared wolf was tracked on one occasion where it spent several hours in close proximity to an active ranch and residence (though no attack was documented on that occasion) – possibly indicating that human habitation does not necessarily deter wolf presence.

Nash gave a presentation on his first-hand experiences dealing with wolves as a cattle rancher. He said he has lost many calves and full-grown cattle over several years and showed photos of many of those kills. He gave examples of indicators of wolf presence or attacks such as unusual or nervous movements of cattle herds and dead or wounded cattle with bite marks just behind the shoulder or the upper hind legs.

Nash warned ranchers that having a wolf kill confirmed by an expert is a difficult process and advised ranchers who suspect a wolf kill to preserve the evidence and call a designated investigator immediately. He said it is important to cover animal carcasses with a tarp and move around an attack site with extreme care in order to not disturb evidence such as tracks or blood splatter patterns.

Both speakers said that while Oregon has had a wolf management plan in place since before wolves made their way into the state, navigating that plan and getting compensation for depredated livestock is a difficult and cumbersome process. They also urged Californians to develop a wolf plan now, before packs get established.

One of many concerns voiced in the debate over wolves in the western U.S. is the belief that "Canadian" gray wolves may not be the same sub-species and are possibly much larger than the ones that originally inhabited the west. Williams told the audience that this is a moot point and he doesn't know the truth of the matter. "It's not a serious issue. That train has already left the station," he said. "These are the wolves that are here and they're the ones we will have to deal with in our lifetime." He added that the adult wolves in northeastern Oregon usually only weigh around 90 to 120 pounds and are not as big as many of the very large trophy wolves seen in photos that have circulated on the Internet.

Williams also explained that if someone sees a track they suspect of belonging to a wolf but are not sure, he assumes it does not belong to a wolf. He said wolf tracks are nearly as big as a human hand and "if there's any question about whether it's a wolf track or a coyote track, it's not a wolf track."

After the presentations, Williams and Nash answered questions from the audience. Siskiyou County Natural Resource Policy Specialist Ric Costales asked if there have been heavy impacts to the elk herds in Wallowa County. Williams said that no substantial impacts had been documented thus far.

Horse Creek resident Mike Adams asked if Wallowa County residents had employed "the three S" strategy (shoot, shovel and shut-up). Williams said that, to his knowledge, wolves were not being killed illegally in Wallowa County and advised that anyone engaging in such activity risked very stiff fines and possible jail time. "There are some very strong deterrents to that kind of activity," he told Adams.

Siskiyou County Supervisor Marcia Armstrong asked whether a county could declare a state of emergency and deal with wolves "on a local level." She said she had heard of counties in Washington attempting this technique. Williams said he's seen some limited success with managing cougars through such methods but had little hope that it could be successful for a federally listed species like wolves.

Williams said federal delisting would be a "game changer" in the ability to manage wolves. He wrapped up the meeting by telling the audience, "I'd really like to be able to leave you with 'and here's what you do about it.' But I don't know the answer." He said the best solution he knows of is to kill entire packs that have shown a habit of killing livestock.

Lauren Richie, northern California associate director of the California Wolf Center, attended the meeting and told the Daily News she thought the research presented by Williams was a good start to what needs to be a long conversation on the subject. She said it would also be helpful to have public forums featuring broad and balanced panels of speakers. She also said more long-term, peer-reviewed research will help inform communities on how to coexist with wolves.

Richie said, while negative encounters with wolves are important to learn from, there are also positive examples of communities in the northern Rocky Mountains and Oregon successfully coexisting with wolves. "It's unfortunate that wolves have become so polarizing. We need to focus more on the common ground and the positive as starting points in this conversation," she said.